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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23471497">I'll Make You Mine (Cause I Love You So Tonight)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/complexhero/pseuds/complexhero'>complexhero</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Broke Open Love [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alpha!James, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Dark, Dubious Consent, M/M, alpha!Qrow, omega!Clover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:20:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,980</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23471497</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/complexhero/pseuds/complexhero</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The front door opened.</p>
<p>Clover leaned against the desk, sobbing. This was it. James was going to be so mad.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dark, alternate ending to my A/B/O verse, (Breaking Like) The Heart That's Stuck Inside My Skin</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clover Ebi/James Ironwood, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Broke Open Love [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679821</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I'll Make You Mine (Cause I Love You So Tonight)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><b>WARNINGS: Extremely dubious consent!</b><br/> </p>
<p>This is a dark alternate ending to (Breaking Like) The Heart That's Stuck Inside My Skin, so if you have not read that...this will make no sense. </p>
<p>I was toying with the idea of how a dark ending might go down, and while there were about a million ways it could've broken bad for Clover over the course of the series, this was the jumping off point I picked. So in this version, we pretty much go off the rails at the end of Chapter 8, with Clover picking the lock.</p>
<p>In this verse, Winter had no particular plans solidified, and had not yet been scheming with Willow and Cedar, so she was caught as flat-footed as everyone else by Clover's heat. And Clover had personally ejected both of them from the apartment, so Qrow couldn't hide there. They had been planning to hop in as needed after Clover freed himself during the Ace Ops tryouts. When James moved up the tryouts, Winter had to scramble to contact Qrow, but they just couldn't get there in time. </p>
<p>So! On to the angst. Again, this is <b>non-canon</b> to the series and completely optional.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>The front door opened.</p>
<p>Clover leaned against the desk, sobbing. This was it. James was going to be so mad.</p>
<p>There was the soft sound of footsteps, then the unmistakable scent of <em>alpha.</em> Clover shuddered, the desire rolling through him.</p>
<p>James drew near, until he was standing right next to him. Clover sobbed again, eyes squeezed shut. James tugged his gloves off, laid them on the desk, then ran his hand through Clover’s sweat-damp hair. Cool metal soothed his heated skin.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Clover sobbed. “I’m sorry I tricked you. But I can’t do this, James, I…I can’t be what you want me to be. I just…I <em>can’t.</em>”</p>
<p>There was a long pause, and then James spoke.</p>
<p>“Look at me,” he said. It wasn’t a command, but it might as well have been.</p>
<p>Clover opened his eyes, tilting his head up. Fear raced through him.</p>
<p>James didn’t look angry. Or disappointed. In fact, there was a warmth to his blue eyes that Clover had all but forgotten. He moved his hand down, to cup Clover’s cheek. Clover leaned into the touch, another shiver running through his body.</p>
<p>“Oh, Clover…”</p>
<p>He sniffled. “Aren’t you mad at me?”</p>
<p>James brushed the tears from his face. “Of course not. You’re just scared. That’s perfectly natural.”</p>
<p>The alpha knelt down, next to him.</p>
<p>“I blame myself. I should have realized what a big change this was for you,” James said, pressing a kiss to his temple. “But you know I just want you to be happy.”</p>
<p>Clover gazed into blue eyes. Gods, this close the scent of him was intoxicating. It was getting harder to think. James’s deep voice was drawing him in, leaving him breathless.</p>
<p>James held Clover’s face in his hands, earnest. “All those things you had to deny yourself, for all these years, I can give those to you now. Love, family. The world out there is cruel, Clover. I can protect you. Let me take care of you.”</p>
<p>Each word sent him deeper and deeper, until James was <em>right there</em>, kissing him. Clover moaned into his mouth, needy. It was so tender, yet so intense, every instinct in his body telling him to <em>give in</em>. When James pulled away, he whined, chasing the contact.</p>
<p>“<em>James,</em>” he whimpered.</p>
<p>James leaned his forehead against Clover’s, pleading. “Let me make you mine.”</p>
<p>Had there ever been any other option?</p>
<p>“<em>Yes,</em>” he breathed, pulling James in for another kiss.</p>
<p>Desire coursed through his body, and it was all he could do not to sob with relief when James laid his hands on him. Gods, he was so <em>wet</em> and <em>empty</em> and he just needed something, <em>anything.</em> He was so tired of fighting.</p>
<p>James pressed him up against the desk, laying claim to his mouth. His hands roamed under Clover’s shirt, caressing his heated skin. For a moment Clover thought it was all about to happen <em>here</em>, that James really <em>was</em> going to bend him over the desk and take him, but thankfully the alpha had better self-control. He hauled Clover up with impressive strength, sweeping him up into a bridal carry as he walked them to the bedroom.</p>
<p>The rest was all a blur of want. James kept working him up, higher and higher, until the niggling fear and doubt were just specks of dust on the ground below. There was James’s body, warm flesh and cold metal pressed against him. James’s cock <em>finally</em> thrusting inside him, opening him up. James’s knot forming, pushing, clenched tight as Clover came with a strangled cry. And then finally, James’s teeth on his neck, biting <em>hard</em>, claiming him.</p>
<p>It was pleasure and pain, intense euphoria even as his skin broke open. He could feel James all around him, inside him, consuming him whole. His orgasm dragged on, slow and <em>hard; </em>he might have been coming for <em>hours</em> for all he could tell.</p>
<p>The bond formed, their auras joining together. James’s blue mixed with his green, coloring the world around him until it was all he could see.</p>
<p>Eventually, he came back to reality. James licked at the wound, healing him. The feeling was so intense, his skin so tender, that it was all he could do not to squirm away. But their bodies were still joined together by James’s knot.</p>
<p>“Too much,” he whimpered. His voice was hoarse, barely audible. “It’s too much, I can’t…”</p>
<p>“Shhh,” James murmured, into his skin. “You did so good.”</p>
<p>The fever was still burning in him, less intense but present nonetheless, and he shivered at the praise. The bond thrummed in the back of his mind, a constant presence.</p>
<p>James pulled away from his neck, leaning down to kiss him. He could taste his blood on the alpha’s tongue. When they parted, James locked eyes with him. He reached up, wiping the tears from Clover’s face.</p>
<p>“I didn’t realize,” James said, smiling down at him. “Our auras, together. It’s the exact same color as your eyes.”</p>
<p>His mind started to clear as they laid there, like fog being swept out to sea. And at the same time, something new was building. Something bigger. From the fullness of James’s knot inside him. From each pass of James’s tongue on his bond mark. From James’s scent and his aura all wrapping around him, setting root in the core of his being.</p>
<p>Oh, gods. What had he done?</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>It was a week and a half before he finally saw Qrow.</p>
<p>Even after the heat dissipated, James hadn’t wanted to leave him. The bond was still strengthening, solidifying. It was almost like a honeymoon, he supposed–dragging on intensely, long after the fever left him. Clover wondered if it had been as all-consuming for James as it was for him. If James was just as affected by Clover now as Clover was by James.</p>
<p>In truth, Clover hadn’t wanted him to go.</p>
<p>But needs must. The world and the war marched on. And so Clover found himself sitting out on the balcony, feeling horribly lonely, trying to choke down a piece of dry toast. He had no appetite, but he needed to eat.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t have surprised him, to see Qrow swoop down and land on the balcony railing. But he still stared for a full minute, brain trying to process the sight. It felt like a lifetime had passed since they’d last talked.</p>
<p>He doubted there would be a problem at this point, but he slid the door shut against lingering smells just in case. “You might as well talk to me,” he said. “I don’t think it matters anymore. Just…don’t come close.”</p>
<p>Qrow hesitated, cocking his head to the side.</p>
<p>Clover sighed. He was so tired. “At least give me this, Qrow. Please.”</p>
<p>Qrow obliged, flying to the far corner before transforming. Clover couldn’t help but marvel at the sight. What a strange thing, magic.</p>
<p>“Hey there, Lucky Charm.”</p>
<p>He looked heartbroken.</p>
<p>Clover gave him a sad smile. “Hello, Qrow.”</p>
<p>There was a little silence, as they drank in each other’s presence. When it started to go awkward, Qrow looked around the balcony.</p>
<p>“How’d you get the lock open?”</p>
<p>“I just asked him.”</p>
<p>It was a funny thing, bonds, Clover was learning. They were a two-way street. It didn’t take any particular conniving on his part. He hadn’t even been thinking of Qrow. All he’d done was press his hand against the glass, admiring the way the morning sun felt against his skin. One earnest look and James had broken the lock off himself.</p>
<p>He took a shaky breath. “I think I can get him to drop the warrants. Might take a while, but he’ll listen to me. And I’ll try to advise him, as best as I can.”</p>
<p>James wasn’t a monster. He knew that now for sure. The man was just broken, in a way that maybe only Clover could repair. And James…really <em>did</em> love him. He just wondered what it was that James saw, when he looked at Clover. Was it different, now? What did it feel like, for the alpha?</p>
<p>Qrow was crying, tears spilling down his cheeks. “Cloves, you don’t have to do this, okay? We can still…let me talk to Winter, we can still get you out. You don’t have to spend the rest of your life– “</p>
<p>“I’m pregnant.”</p>
<p>Qrow drew in a breath.</p>
<p>It would be a couple weeks, before the tests could confirm it, but James had all but sung it from the rooftops from the way he clung to Clover’s scent. Any chance he got, he buried his face in the crook of Clover’s neck, inhaling. Every night, James curled up behind him, hand to his stomach. He pressed kisses there every time they made love. And Clover felt different, too. But then again, everything felt different.</p>
<p>Clover wiped a tear from his eye. Must be hormones.</p>
<p>“Qrow,” he said, looking earnestly at the other man. “I need you to promise me something.”</p>
<p>“Anything,” Qrow said.</p>
<p>“Just…promise me you won’t blame yourself for any of this,” he said. “These were my decisions, my mistakes. And…it won’t be bad, I don’t think.”</p>
<p>He’d loved James once. It shouldn’t be too hard to get there, again. The bond was already doing half the work.</p>
<p>“Clover, I…”</p>
<p>“Qrow, <em>please. </em>I’ll be fine.”</p>
<p>Clover wondered which one of them he was trying to convince.</p>
<p>“Just, please, I need you to do this for me. I need to know you’re gonna be okay.”</p>
<p>Qrow looked so lost, backed into the corner. “I <em>can’t.</em> Cloves, I...I lo- “</p>
<p>He cut himself off, choking on a sob.</p>
<p>Clover stood. He came as close as he dared, offering his hand to the alpha. He could hardly even smell him, now. “Take my hand,” he said. “Look at me.”</p>
<p>Qrow did so. Clover gazed into crimson eyes, trying to memorize every last detail. “Qrow, you are strong. You are kind. You are so much more than your semblance. And you have <em>so</em> many people who love you, who want to take care of you.”</p>
<p>One of them was standing right there.</p>
<p>“Can you…can you just <em>try</em> to believe that? For me?”</p>
<p>Qrow drew in a shuddering breath. He scrubbed at his tears. “I…yeah. For you.”</p>
<p>“Can you say it? I need you to promise me.”</p>
<p>“I promise. I’ll try.”</p>
<p>Qrow squeezed his hand, giving him a shaky smile. Clover sighed in relief, closing his eyes. Good. That was good. “Thank you.”</p>
<p>“Am I…” Qrow hesitated. “Can I still come see you?”</p>
<p>It felt like a part of him was dying.</p>
<p>“I…I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. At least for a little while.”</p>
<p>It would only hurt more, to fight it. The secret would be unbearable to keep, if it was even possible. And…maybe Qrow could find someone else. He deserved to be loved.</p>
<p>He let go of Qrow’s hand, reluctantly, eyes closed. He couldn’t look at the damage he’d done.</p>
<p>“Goodbye, Qrow,” he said. “Good luck.”</p>
<p>“You, too.” Qrow said. His voice was rough with tears.</p>
<p>There was a rustle of feathers and then silence.</p>
<p>When Clover opened his eyes, Qrow was gone. There was a single feather floating down from the sky, just past the railing. He let it fall, aimless, to the courtyard below.</p>
<p>A clean break.</p>
<p>He waited as long as he could stand before he picked up his scroll and sent James a message.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>When can you come home? I need you.</em>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Clover still came to the balcony every morning.</p>
<p>He had someone new to talk to, now. All his thoughts, all his dreams, all his hopes and memories he poured out for the new life inside of him. And if he wished to see a flurry of black, out of the corner of his eye, from time to time…well.</p>
<p>They were only wishes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Why did I do this??? I swear to god I just finished writing the sweetest, most schlocky chapter of Neverending Summer, and then this is what I do with my Friday instead.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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